


this side of paradise

by angelsprunch



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mild Angst, not much of a plot tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 02:50:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13425159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelsprunch/pseuds/angelsprunch
Summary: stan just wants to go to sleep





	this side of paradise

**Author's Note:**

> @gazebowheeler helped me with this bc eli is an angel ok i love eli !! anyway have some stozier in a dark room and lemme know what you think !! i’m trying to get back into writing and if yall like this/want more i’ll try and get some other fics out tonight

Contrary to popular belief, Richie wanted to fall in love more than anything. He longed for someone to hold his hand and to cuddle up with after a long day. He wanted someone that he told all of his jokes to and they would tell him when they weren’t funny anymore. He wanted someone that wanted to hear all of his jokes, even the ones that weren’t good. Richie longed for someone that looked forward to seeing him as much as he looked forward to seeing them. While he had bits and pieces of that with the losers, it wasn’t what he was searching for. He loved his friends more than anything, but Richie wanted a connection even deeper than that. He wanted someone he could kiss but for now he settled on kissing all the losers and being pushed away when they said he was smothering them.

 

Richie knew who he was in love with and who he wanted that companionship with, but for once he was too scared to open his mouth. Instead he’d answer every call and make himself as available as he could for this person. Richie was in love but he didn’t want to sacrifice his friendship just so he could have the one thing he dreamed of. There was the risk of losing the friendship he’d had since he was in nursery school and as desperately as Richie wanted to smother this person in kisses, he couldn’t risk losing the only person who fully understood him. Or, he thought he’d never risk it.

 

Throwing rocks at the window, Richie tugged his windbreaker tighter around him while he waited for Stan to open his window. When he finally opened it, Richie clambored inside and Stan was too tired to remind him to be quiet. “Why didn’t you wear an actual jacket?” Stan had asked when Richie was pressed up against him in Stan’s single bed and his cold toes were pressing against the back of Stan’s calves underneath his pajama pants.

 

“Why’d you call me over at three am?”

 

“Why’d you answer?”

 

“Because the last time I didn’t answer your call, you ignored my jokes for three days.”

 

“Did I ignore them or were they just not that funny?”

 

“All my jokes are funny.”

 

“Really? I have yet to hear a funny one.”

 

“Stanley, I will go home.”

 

“No you won’t.” Stanley mumbled as he turned around to press his face against the pale blue cotton tee covering Richie’s chest. The windbreaker was hanging over the back of Stan’s desk chair and Richie’s shoes and socks were on the floor by the desk. Had Stan not been nearly delirious with exhaustion he would have told Richie to make it neater, but he hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours and all he could think about was being in his bed with a warm body beside him. Not that Richie ever radiated a lot of warmth, but he had a warm and inviting personality. As much as he complained about how Richie’s toes and fingers always felt like ice on his skin, there was no one he’d rather curl up with. There was something safe about Richie. Something that soothed him to sleep when it felt so unattainable. Stanley shut his eyes and took a deep breath, smiling when he smelled the familiar smells of Richie Tozier. 

 

There was always the faint smell of cigarettes on his clothes but the scent didn’t dominate him the way it dominated Beverly or Bill. Stanley often wondered why that was, but he never bothered to ask Richie. He didn’t really think Richie had an answer for it anyway. Richie tended to smell more sugary, a mix of candy and strawberries. There were hints of tobacco and laundry detergent mixed in which would prompt Stan to tell Richie that he didn’t realize he ever washed his clothes. The first time he said that Richie had flipped him off and pulled him into the quarry while he was still fully clothed.

 

Richie’s slender fingers started to play with Stanley’s hair while he waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark room. There used to be an owl night light in the corner by Stan’s desk but he had taken it out during sleepovers and tucked it away in his desk drawer. Richie didn’t know if Stan simply forgot to put it back in its place or if he was too embarrassed that he still had it. He assumed it was the latter because Stanley seemingly never forgot anything, unlike Richie. Instead moonlight came in through the window and it shone across Stan’s skin.

 

Cold fingers brushed some stray hairs away from Stan’s face and Stan’s eyes fluttered open to meet Richie’s. Richie didn’t smile like he usually did when his eyes met Stan’s. Stan looked so tired and he almost felt bad for keeping him from going to sleep. He pressed a gentle kiss to Stan’s forehead and he heard Stan mumble something about chapped lips. Before he could fully process it, Stan was trying to get out of the bed and Richie tightened his arms around Stan’s smaller frame. “If you leave this bed, I’m going home.”

 

“Your lips are chapped.”

 

“You’re overtired.”

 

“You’re annoying.”

 

Richie pouted even though Stan couldn’t see it and tugged Stan back into his chest. Stan fought for a moment before he gave in and rested his cheek against Richie’s chest. Stan’s eyes fell shut once more and Richie rubbed circles on his back. It was silent for a few moments before Stan’s soft voice filled the room. “You’re never going to hear me say this again but can you talk? It’s too quiet…” his voice was laced with sleep and Stan didn’t dare to open his eyes. He was close to drifting off but he was still too scared. Stan was sure that Richie would have the biggest grin on his face at Stan’s request and that he’d never hear the end of this. Instead, Richie just hummed for a moment while he wondered what he should talk about.

 

“I think I’m not going to go to college. I know the rest of you are all going to go, probably. I also know that we’re all going to drift after high school when all of you guys get accepted into your colleges. It’ll be hard but we all seem to have forgotten so much already. I think we’ll all forget this stuff too. I wanna be sad that I’m going to forget all of you guys, that I’ll forget all of this, but maybe it’s for the better.” he explained, feeling Stan relax against him. In most cases Stan would argue with Richie and tell him that he won’t forget him. He’d push for the other boy to go to college and not waste his potential. He was too tired, though, and Richie’s voice was lulling him off to sleep. “I know I won’t miss it because I won’t remember it to miss it, but I think it’s fair to say that I’ll never meet anyone like you. I’ll probably spend the rest of my life looking for a friendship like ours and you’ll be off fucking discovering new types of birds and I’ll be looking for a boy that has a million ways to tell me to shut up.” 

 

Richie trailed off when Stan was no longer fidgeting. His breathing was even and calm. Richie was almost certain that Stan was asleep as he moved to slide his glasses off his face and set them on the pillow by Stan’s head. Moving to set them on the night table would risk jarring Stan awake and the last thing he needed was for that boy to lose any more sleep. “Sleep well, Staniel. I love you and I hope you know I’ll never find someone that I want to be with as much as you.” he said, softly. Richie pressed his chapped lips to Stan’s temple and settled into the bed.

 

When Stan woke up the next morning he could have sworn he had a dream that Richie said he loved him. He was too scared to tell Richie, scared that it would reveal him wanting Richie.


End file.
